Wizards' first win is waved off after review, Hawks win 101-100
ATLANTA -- Most of the Washington Wizards were in the locker room thinking they had claimed their first victory after Martell Webster saved a Kevin Seraphin air ball and scooped it into the basket as time expired in overtime.
Only Nene stayed on the court, praying.
But after scrutinizing the video, the officials ruled no shot. The Atlanta Hawks had hung on to win 101-100 Wednesday.
Kyle Korver's 3-point shot with 1.7 seconds left in overtime was the winning basket.
"Our video shows it's good," a disgusted Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.
Seraphin, who had a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, had been ecstatic for the two minutes it took for the officials to reverse the call.
"I said, 'We got it! We got it!' For the first time we really played. We played good," he said.
The Wizards got a boost from the return of Nene, who scored 12 points in his season debut. Trevor Ariza 15 rebounds and 12 points.
The Hawks, led by Josh Smith's 25 points and 12 rebounds, were up by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, on the strength of four 3-pointers by Korver.
Al Horford scored 15 points to go with nine rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, but he was 1 for 10 from the free-throw line and missed two with 22 seconds left.
"I thought they looked good," a relieved Horford said in the Hawks' locker room. But looking at video after the game, he saw they were flat.
The Wizards outrebounded the Hawks 51-35 in regulation but Nene, soaking his sore feet after playing nearly 20 minutes, said, "Not getting the rebounds off the free throws down the stretch killed us."
The Hawks led most of the first quarter, by as many as 10 points. But the Wizards narrowed the score to 26-24 when both teams went to their second units.
An 11-2 run by the Wizards gave them their largest lead of the half, 37-32 at 5:52 in the second quarter. The Wizards were making 3-point shots, but the Hawks rallied for a 50-47 halftime lead by going inside.
"Coming into this game, this morning I really didn't have a good feeling about it," Hawks coach Larry Drew said. "I really believe in my heart that this Washington Wizards team is better than their record indicates.
"I just knew it was going to be a tough game. It was just a matter of me trying to convince my group that this was probably going to be one of the hardest games that we've played so far this year."
NOTES: "You'll see it at tip-off," Wittman said when asked an hour before game time what his starting lineup would be. He's still searching for a combination that clicks. ... Nene, who missed the first nine games with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, was active but his role will be limited until he regains his conditioning. He entered the game at 2:23 in the first quarter. ... Trevor Booker was out with a strained right knee. ... Someone -- no one knew who -- decreed that the Wizards would wear black socks for the game. But after Jordan Crawford drew howls from his teammates when he put them on with his white shoes, the players couldn't go through with it; they switched to white socks. ... All of the Hawks are over the flu bug that went through the team on last week's West Coast trip, including coach Larry Drew, who started it all. ... Drew started the same lineup he used Monday against the Magic, the first time this season the same group has started consecutive games: Jeff Teague, Devin Harris, Korver, Smith and Horford.
